page_title: 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment
section_title: Gettysburg July 3
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment / History / Gettysburg July 3
caption_attribution_description: English: 1st Minnesota Monument on Cemetery Ridge
context_page_description: The 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment was the very first group of volunteers the Union received in response to the Souths assault of Fort Sumter at the beginning of the United States Civil War. Minnesota's Governor Ramsey offered 1000 men to Lincoln immediately upon learning of the attack on the fort. He just happened to be in Washington when the news broke. Those men volunteered for a three-year commitment which was much longer than other states. During combat actions, the 1st Minnesota sustained substantial casualties at the battles of First Bull Run 20% and Antietam and a staggering 82%at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is most noted for its actions on the second day there.
  At a dire moment, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, commander of II Corps ordered the First Minnesota to charge into a Southern brigade. They were outnumbered by at least 5 to 1, but it was Gen. Hancock's only option to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. One survivor stated afterward that he expected the advance to result in "death or wounds to us all..." The regiment immediately obeyed the order. Gen.
context_section_description: Carrying on from the heavy losses of the previous day, the remaining men of the 1st Minn. were reinforced by detached Companies F and L. The reunited regiment was moved a bit north of the previous days fight to one of the few places where Union lines were breached during Pickett's Charge. They again had to charge into advancing Confederate troops with more losses.  Capt. Messick was killed and Capt. W. B. Farrell mortally wounded, and Capt. Henry C. Coates had to take command.
  During this charge, Private Marshall Sherman of Company C captured the colors of the 28th Virginia Infantry and received the Medal of Honor for this exploit. The Confederate flag was taken back to Minnesota as a war trophy. The State retains possession to this day with the Minnesota Historical Society ensuring it's proper preservation. In the mid-1990s, several groups of Virginians threatened to sue the Society to return the 28th Virginia's battle flag to the Old Dominion. The Minnesota Attorney General advised that such threats were without a legal basis, and the flag remained in the possession of the Society. In subsequent years, various groups of Virginia officials asked for the flag to be returned to (or at least be loaned to) Virginia, always to be met with similar declinations from Minnesota authorities. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton once explained "We declined that invitation... It was taken in a battle with the cost of the blood of all these Minnesotans. It would be a sacrilege to return it to them. It's something that was earned through the incredible courage and valor of the men who gave their lives and risked their lives to obtain it... ...As far as I'm concerned it is a closed subject." Some years earlier, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura had been more succinct: "We won... We took it. That makes it our heritage.".
  After being knocked out by a bullet to the head and later shot in the hand, Corporal Henry D. O'Brien repeatedly picked up the fallen colors of the 1st Minnesota and carried a wounded comrade back to the Union lines. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism.
caption: July 3 Monument to the 1st Minn. Reg., the Codori farmstead behind
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